"Gov. Rick Perry, who has said he hopes to make abortion 'a thing of the past,' signed the legislation in July. It had been temporarily derailed when Wendy Davis, a Democratic state senator, mounted an 11-hour filibuster in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Ms. Davis is now running for governor, with abortion rights as one of her planks. ...

"Courts in Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota and Wisconsin have blocked similar admitting-privilege requirements as part of the continuing battles over how much states may restrict the right to abortion granted by Roe v. Wade in 1973."